Melting Pot

190 West Main Street
Somerville, NJ 08876
908.575.8010
website

I've heard of this fondue chain and people have recommended it to me when I was in DC, but I only had a chance to try it out recently.

//Big Night Out Set
1. appetizer fiesta cheese fondue. cheddar with Mexican herbs, spices, jalapeno peppers and salsa.
/we asked for as spicy as possible. it was delicious. I vote for all future tortilla chips to be served with the above cheese dip.

2. entree fondue fusion (* for my personal favorites)
*jerk-seasoned sirloin
lobster tail
*zesty peppered shrimp
pork tenderloin
filet mignon medallion
vanilla rum chicken
butternut squash ravioli
veggies (*potatoes, squash, brocolli, mushrooms, etc)
/basicall you poke fondue fork into a piece of meat/veggie and then cook it in the soup base in the pot. they also have a variety of sauces that you can dip with. I really liked the horse radish "cocktail" sauce for shrimp. I ended up using it for chicken too. haha. It's smart they gave us different color fondue sticks so we don't mix up our food.

3. dessert fondue cookies 'n cream marshmallow dream. dark chocolate marshmallow cream base, flambeed. topped off with crushed oreos. Strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, brownies, etc are then placed into the chocolate marshmallow bath heaven.
/J knew I loved cookies 'n cream so he chose this for us. Definite win.

//drinks
strawberry basil lemonade - it's actually alcoholic which is good. if you don't spike something this sweet you will get a sugar rush. I especially liked the fresh strawberry and basil bits. definitely gives me something to think about when I make my own lemonade.

//atmosphere
We got a booth for the four of us. The light directly above was bright but rest of the restaurant has a nice dim relaxed feel to it. I can't remember the music so it probably was quiet.

//service
Our waitress was helpful and she managed to smile and put up with us changing/replacing/upgrading the orders a million ways. We tipped well.

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Update Jan 2010
I went back and had the opportunity to have two fondue pots (part of 5, with J's family) so I got to try more varieties. Last time we only had one pot for a party of four. I can't believe it took us 3 hours to finish dinner though. Wow.

1. appetizer: spinach artichoke with cheese was delicious. the alp and dell cheese special was made with a very strong mustard and wine so it was flavored nicely, but personally I liked the spinach artichoke better.
2. salad: california salad with blue cheese was dressed with a sweet zesty dressing. walnuts for extra crunch.
3. entree: we got the fondue feast with two different soup bases, coq au vin (herbs with wine) and court bouillon (vegetable broth). I still like the shrimp and beef the best. After I reviewed my old blog entry I realized that I also liked shrimp last time I came. Mushroom and broccoli also go very well with the vegetable broth since they soak up the soup flavor.
4. dessert: we got cookies and cream (again) because it's so amazing. The other pot was pure milk chocolate which was okay but not as good as ours. My fav dip items include marshmallows and graham cracker.